The Search for the Perfect Headphones: Skullcandy Hesh

Another set of headphones I tried was the $50 Hesh model, by Skullcandy.

Seeing them in the store, I was almost certain that the price tag was based on the nifty skull design rather than the quality of the product. So, I hesitated at first. I went on their web site, and found out they make dozens of different designs, including original designs, pro sports team designs, and band designs--not the least of which is their Metallica headphone design.

I also read reviews of the product because of my trepidation. These reviews generally fell into 2 categories: 1, "I liked them until they broke," and 2, "These are the sickest headphones. I wish I could afford them." I thought I could safely ignore the reviews by the people who haven't tried them. But the people who had said they were nice, but made out of inferior plastic, seemed to be pleased with them.

I thought I could try them out, and just be careful not to break them. So, I got a pair. I took them back later the same day.

They have many distinctions among the headphones I tried: They are the least comfortable (and immediately made my ears hot), they don't have very good sound, and despite being circum-aural they do nothing to block environmental noise. They also feel really cheap, and I don't think anyone could use these on a regular basis without breaking them within a couple months.

The Verdict: The only positive things I can say about them are that they look neat (if you're not embarrassed by it) and the cord is a good length so you don't have to coil it up and stick it in your pocket. These aren't good enough to earn them a star, so I give it 0 out of 5 stars.

Orcivus: Est Deus in Nobis (2010) Review

I discovered Orcivus's Est Deus in Nobis by way of a review in the March issue of Terrorizer (my first ever metal magazine). After listening to a song on Youtube, I decided to pick it up.

As you might expect, they sound a lot like fellow Swedish black metallers Watain.

Each track has both faster, more traditional black metal sections, as well as slower-paced atmospheric sections. The riffs are well-written and interesting, and the track order was wisely done, starting off strong, getting better in the middle, and winding down toward the end. The strongest tracks are "Towards Ether", "Storming Blasphemy", and "Sword of Demise" (tracks 4, 5, and 6).

There are a few problems with Est Deus in Nobis. First, the guitar solos aren't particularly great. The songs also don't have as many subtleties as you would find in Watain material. Finally, every song follows the same pattern, and none of them really stands out as anything special. There isn't a weak track on the album, but nothing is going to blow you away either. The album would have been a lot better if they had fixed one of these issues.



The Verdict: The riffs are well-written, and the tempo changes manage to make individual tracks interesting. All of the tracks are good, but none of them are great. With all of the interesting things going on in the world of black metal these days, nothing makes it stand out, despite its overall quality. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

How the West was really won

My Metal History, Part 1: The Beginning

For a long time I've wanted to do a series of posts on my personal history with metal, how I got into it, and how I've expanded my horizons in that realm. But I've never gotten around to it, until now, inspired by Metallattorney's series on his metal history.

Early in life, I never really cared about music. We had really awful pop radio stations where I grew up, plus far more country stations than anyone could ever need. My dad was a classic rock fan in high school, so I do remember listening to some of that and liking it somewhat. He is particularly fond of Bachman-Turner Overdrive. I also remember that from time to time we would put on his "Cat Scratch Fever" (I think it was vinyl, but may have been 8-track) and go nuts playing with the dog . . . it had something to do with the whole cat vs. dog thing. But my dad isn't really big on music, and never has been. At the time, I wasn't either.

So, while other kids at school would talk about music, I just felt like an outsider, because I didn't get what the big deal was. I remember once in 4th grade some kids were arguing about who sang some particular song. They couldn't settle it, and they said, "Hey, Kelly's smart, let's ask him and he'll settle it." I didn't know and didn't care. I'm embarrassed to say I did buy into the whole MC Hammer thing, getting Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em, but that was very short-lived. Why is that embarrassing to me, when nothing a person does at that age should really embarrass them as an adult?

In junior high, I would listen to the Dr. Demento radio show. It played comedy songs, and comedy was something I understood. I would sit by my little radio / cassette player and wait for a song which I thought I would like, and record Dr. Demento compilations of my own off the radio. I would then listen to them from time to time, usually on my Walkman, and especially while mowing the lawn.

One thing I noticed, though, was that I seemed to like the heavier, guitar-oriented songs. I remember really liking Weird Al's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and a parody of "Iron Man" called "I Am Santa Claus."

I didn't think anything of it, and still didn't consider myself a music fan. But one day in 8th grade, everything changed forever.

The year was 1995. I was staying at my best friend's house for the night. Our usual ritual was to play video games until 1 or 2 in the morning (usually Final Fantasy VI, formerly known in the US as Final Fantasy III, on the SNES) and then to stay up talking until 3 or 4. This night, something different was added to the mix. He had a cassette of his dad's he wanted me to hear, but he didn't think we were supposed to be listening to it. He put it in the player, and it immediately opened my eyes forever.

Before the first song was over, I told him that I had decided to start saving my $5/week allowance to get my first CD player (at the time it cost me $80, I think). I made good on that promise, with the help of some Christmas money, and within a couple months I bought the CD player and my first CD, the same album which changed my life forever. That album was Metallica, the "Black Album," the song which changed my life forever was "Enter Sandman."

Soon after that, my friend and I were both buying metal, mostly the same albums. We both got White Zombie's Astro Creep: 2000 (which I still have to this day) and AC/DC's The Razor's Edge (which I no longer have, not being a fan of them anymore). Unluckily for him, he had the "clean" (i.e. bastardized Wal-Mart) version of the Zombie album. Luckily for me, I did not. I clearly remember buying the Zombie album. We were on a shopping trip to either Sioux City, Iowa, or Yankton, South Dakota, and I always bought something for myself when we went on those trips. Previously, I had always wandered to the toy section, but that day at K-Mart I wandered to electronics and found my first Zombie. I'm fairly certain it was the second CD I ever owned.

I would literally sit in my room and do nothing but listen to these albums. I kind of miss those days, because it seems there isn't enough time in the day anymore to just listen to music without having to do something else, too.

That summer before high school, Metallica released Load, an album many long-time metal fans would instantly despise. I had no preconceptions of what metal should be, and I was in no way plugged into the metal music press. All I knew was that I walked into the store and saw a huge display of the new Metallica album. I got it right away.

Soon after, we took our last-ever family vacation. My parents knew it would be the last one because I was going to go to high school soon and would be too busy to go with them, so they made it a big one. We were going to Yellowstone, a 15 hour drive. Because of this, I got a Discman. I believe Load was the only album I brought with me, but even if it wasn't, I don't think I took it out of the Discman. I can't tell you how many AA batteries I went through, or how many times I listened to it on that trip--at least 20, probably closer to 30 or more. I deeply loved every single song on that album, and still love most of it to this day.

This was the most formative period in my personal history with metal music, and Metallica was by far the most influential part of it, though White Zombie also played a big part. I still don't think I considered myself a metalhead yet. In high school, that would change.

Playlist: "Vacuity"

I had my best Genius playlist yet they other night. Once again, "The Lotus Eater" makes an appearance, but I'm not complaining. "Demigod" and "Stabwound" tend to show up a lot too, it seems.

This time, the playlist is based on Gojira's "Vacuity," from the excellent The Way of All Flesh.

Vacuity - Gojira
Bleed - Meshuggah
The Lotus Eater - Opeth
The Last Baron - Mastodon
Guardians of Asgaard - Amon Amarth
Bound By The Moon - DevilDriver
Stabwound - Necrophagist
The Ancient Covenant - The Faceless
Demigod - Behemoth
Requiem - Lamb of God
Cold - At the Gates
Eaten - Bloodbath
Global Warming - Gojira
Future Breed Machine - Meshuggah
The Grand Conjuration - Opeth
March of the Fire Ants - Mastodon
Valhall Awaits Me - Amon Amarth
Head On To Heartache (Let Them Rot) - DevilDriver
Progenies of the Great Apocalypse - Dimmu Borgir
One Gun - Lamb of God
The Seed Ov I - Behemoth
Not In Rivers, But In Drops - Isis
All The Tears - Gojira
Slaughter of the Soul - At the Gates
ObZen - Meshuggah

Sigh: Scenes From Hell (2010) Review

Yes, lately I have gone out of my way to find Japanese metal. Sigh is probably the most well-known Rising Sun band among extreme metal circles, and for good reason: They are both uncompromising and experimental.

Their latest, Scenes From Hell, is the first to include new member Dr. Mikannibal, saxophonist, vocalist, and thinly veiled attempt to appeal to male hormones. The album makes good use of the saxophone, though, and also includes a full horn section. This doesn't detract from the metal, but instead it seems to transform it from ordinary black metal into a demonic war march. The brass instruments evoke both militaristic and ecclesiastical feelings, putting them into a very dark context, but they also often stray into Latin horn territory for a very strange juxtaposition.

The other thing that really makes Sigh stand out on this album is the guitar solos. Instead of doing thrash or black metal style solos, they seem pulled from old school heavy metal or hard rock albums, providing another interesting contrast.

Aside from the brass and the guitar solos, this is pure black metal. If it wasn't, then you wouldn't be able to recognize it as such. What I don't understand, though, is that with all of their innovation, they have still stuck with the lo-fi, poor recording favored by some black metal purists (who ironically profess anti-conformist beliefs while enforcing a definition of black metal which is extremely limiting and, therefore, conformist). The music is awesome, and I'd be willing to bet these guys can kill in a live show, but the recording is terrible. And I'm no audiophile, either, but please just don't make it sound like you recorded it in a parking garage.



The Verdict: The music is awesome, and it's innovative, but the recording is terrible. If you turn the stereo way up, and then walk into the next room, it will probably sound natural, and in that situation it may be one of the best you hear all year. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

WTF: Van Canto

I read about Van Canto in the June Decibel, and I had to look it up. They are an a capella metal band. Yes, you read that right. Except for drums, they have five vocalists, and that's it. Through vocals, they replicate the sounds of guitar and bass, and they do an impressive job of it. It really is amazing, but it's just a curiosity. I can't imagine anyone actually enjoying a full album of this stuff, and I just barely made it through their cover of "Master of Puppets".

But as impressive as it is, it's equally laughable. It's hard to believe they're even serious about it, but it appears they are--it even seems Nuclear Blast is taking it seriously.

There's no way I would get this to do a proper review--I don't think I could even listen to it the whole way through, let alone spend money on it--but it's worth mentioning here for humor value.

The Search for the Perfect Headphones: Auvio

After returning the Sony noise canceling headphones, I got some Auvio headphones at Radio Shack.

They're not on Amazon, and I can't find them on Radio Shack's site either, so I can't tell you exactly what model they were or find a picture for you. But they cost $40 and have a circum-aural design (they are supposed to go around your ears).

They have good sound, definitely. They are also the best sound-isolating headphones I tried (aside from the oh-so-expensive Bose ones I briefly tried on at Best Buy).

Like many headphones sold as circum-aural, they don't actually go around your ears, though. They cover most of your ears. This, coupled with the fact that they are very heavy and tight, made them extremely uncomfortable. After dozens of little adjustments, I got them into a position where I could wear them about 45 minutes before it got really bad. After a little more than an hour, they started to get a little hot, too.

The cord was also a strange length. It wasn't terribly long, but it was long enough that I had to stuff some of it in my pocket. But it wasn't long enough to use with a stereo, so I have no idea why they made it the length they did.

Also, they were too bulky to comfortably fit around your neck when not in use.

The Verdict: I think for someone who doesn't wear glasses, these might just work. For me, they didn't. I give them 2 out of 5 stars.

Acrassicauda: Only the Dead See the End of the War (2010) Review

Just about anyone into metal has heard about the Iraqi thrash metal band Acrassicauda (Arabic: اكراسكودا). They were the subject of the 2007 documentary Heavy Metal in Baghdad. The story of their struggle to play the music they love in a society which neither understands nor tolerates it, and in a society torn apart by war, has become a legend. It resonates with us more than Cliff Burton's death and it's more memorable than Ozzy at the Alamo.

The documentary itself ran into enough problems, so the end product was not all that high quality, despite the compelling tale told. It ends with the band having recorded a demo and giving it to the film's producers to distribute, and the band members stuck in the Purgatory of being illegal Iraqi immigrants in Syria.

The story's happy ending (or new beginning, rather) is that the band members obtained refugee status in the US and released their first EP nine years after their formation. Only the Dead See the End of the War contains four songs, and is about 21 minutes long.

The question you may be asking: Are they any good, or are they just a good story? My answer is, They are definitely good.

Their influence from early Metallica is obvious, and their relative isolation from the metal scenes of the world makes them sort of a throwback ("Garden of Stones" sounds a lot like Death, for instance). The resulting sound is surprisingly a stripped-down version of Alchemist, and at times they even incorporate some Middle Eastern influence into their music. The songs are well-written, and their obvious love of metal is readily apparent. It is lacking in polish, but that's what you would expect of any debut EP.



The Verdict: Maybe I'm being slightly generous here because this is only a debut EP, but I think it's very good, and these guys are definitely a band to watch out for. I don't think they'll ever be revolutionary in metal music, but they'll be a reliable standard. I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Obscure Bands: Ensoph

I recently said I never realized how big a fan of gothic metal I apparently am. I have always known, though, that I am a huge fan of industrial metal--at least most of the time.

Enter the Italian group Ensoph, an industrial gothic metal band, with some black metal elements. I currently own two of their albums, their 2004 sophomore release Opus Dementiae and their latest, 2009's Rex Mundi X-ile.

They have a highly unusual sound, so it's very difficult to give you any comparisons to other groups--they could even qualify as avant-garde metal. The music seems to be a backdrop of gothic metal overlaid with a lot of industrial elements, such as synthesizers. Vocally, there are two voices present, a standard goth metal clean vocal style and a strained black metal rasp; I don't know whether it is from one or two vocalists. On the 2004 album, there seems to also be some folk metal (a flute or similar sound) poking in as well.

One common problem with industrial metal is that the metal part of it can be overpowered by the atmospheric elements. This is the case on Opus Dementiae. As a result, the songs come off as unfocused, and can easily lose your attention.

However, on Rex Mundi X-ile, Ensoph seems to have gotten the industrial elements under control, and have written some focused songs which are most definitely metal--a completely unique brand of metal worth checking out for fans of industrial, gothic, avant-garde, or black metal. They also did a very interesting cover of Alice In Chains's "Would?"



The Verdict: They're too unknown to even have a Wikipedia page yet, but because of their unique sound and definite improvement in more recent work, you may be hearing more about them in the future. I give Opus Dementiae 3 of 5 stars, and Rex Mundi X-ile 4 of 5 stars.